Fair Taxation of Schools and Education Standards Committee

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

I will come in more detail to the record of private schools on the means-tested support that they make available, and on falling partnerships, but I have to tell the hon. Gentleman that it is not a great record. I gently suggest to him that the people of Rother Valley and across our country—the vast majority of whom send their children to state schools—would prefer his focus to be on driving up standards in state schools, not on defending the tax breaks enjoyed by private schools.

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

rose—

[Alexander Stafford]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan)]

My mission is to make sure that every child in this country gets a fantastic education and every opportunity to make the most of their abilities. My expectation of excellence is the same whatever the type of school and wherever it is in the country. A good education is not a battle of this school versus that school—at its most basic, it means giving every child the means to find their place in the world. My job is to make sure that schools do that, and independent schools have a valuable role in delivering that.

By the Opposition’s own account, applying VAT to independent schools might deliver £1.75 billion more per year for schools. The key word in that sentence is “might”. I gently suggest that “might” could be over-optimistic, or even economically illiterate. The Government recognise that a good education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet when it comes to making people’s lives better, which is why we are putting an extra £2 billion into our schools next year and the year after. This will be the highest real-terms spending on schools in history, totalling £58.8 billion by 2024-25. [Interruption.] I hear a few mumblings of “2010” from the Opposition Benches, so let me put that into context. When we took office from Labour, the spending was £35 billion per year. For those following the maths, that is a 68% cash increase.

Under this Government, schools will not need tax changes to receive extra money; they will not have to wait. Without that policy, they will be getting it from April this year, and even more—£2 billion, as opposed to an optimistic £1.75 billion.

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State for giving way. It is a shame the shadow Secretary of State did not afford me the same courtesy—I thought a debate was an exchange of ideas. What the Labour party is actually proposing is to financially penalise parents for paying to educate their children. I would have thought that would affect the number of families who could afford to keep their children in the independent sector, and lead to an influx of children from the independent into the public sector. What assessment have the Government made of how much that would cost the taxpayer in net terms? My hunch is that it would actually cost more than it would raise, and therefore not only would the policy not deliver for everyone, it would not deliver for anyone.

[Gillian Keegan]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, showing her economic literacy in full. I will get on to explaining some of the figures.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Review

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

Tuesday 29th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

The hon. Lady raises an important point. Part of my ambition and that of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is to ensure that we knit together a system that delivers both elements, and I hope that the standards will provide clear guidance on when a child or young person needs that EHCP. We are simplifying the EHCP process overall to ensure that we improve efficiency, make it frictionless if we can, and reduce waiting times, including through standardising and digitising the EHCPs. One thing parents have told me is that if they move address, they suddenly have to make themselves familiar with a whole other EHCP. The work with Health will, I hope, make a real difference.

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

Last week my constituent Holly and the National Deaf Children’s Society came to see me to discuss the need for better support for deaf children in school. In particular, they highlighted the incredible difference that their teacher of the deaf had made. Can my right hon. Friend outline how the Government will invest in teachers of the deaf, so that all deaf children can have more regular access to the brilliant support they provide?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I know that my hon. Friend is a great champion of children who are deaf. When I was Children and Families Minister, I saw at first hand the incredible work that the stakeholders and charities do in this area. I want to see best practice, and we will ensure that we learn from the best and see how we can scale this up throughout the whole school system. The White Paper and the Green Paper will give us the opportunity to knit together a system that delivers for deaf children in our education system.

Education: Return in January

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

The hon. Lady is right to talk passionately about the brilliant schools in her constituency. We have seen a transformation in schools in London as a result of reforms that were introduced by this Government and changes that were made in the latter part of the last Labour Government. We have seen education as an incredibly powerful tool in closing the attainment gap and the disadvantage gap, and London has been one of the real powers in driving that forward. The roll-out of the national tutoring programme is going as planned and we are very pleased with it. I am sure she will have noticed that, as part of the spending review, we want to see this as something that happens not just for one year, but over multiple years, because we believe that that is where the real benefit will be had.

I must confess—I am a little bit old-fashioned about this—that I will constantly do everything I can, whether it is in the hon. Lady’s constituency or mine, and take quite extraordinary measures, to keep schools open wherever it is possible to do so. If they do have to close, I will ensure that it is for the minimum time, because we see children suffering as a result of isolation. Both my children have had to self-isolate as a result of being in contact with other children with covid. Whether it is the national tutoring programme, the covid catch-up fund or the continued reforms that have been made to education, which have driven up standards so much in her constituency and mine, we must not lose sight of the fact that these reforms have to carry on to continue to drive standards and reduce the attainment gap.

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con) [V]]

I have been contacted by school leaders who have highlighted their need to get clarity over future changes to school opening arrangements as quickly as possible. Will my right hon. Friend consider a suggestion from one deputy head in my constituency: publish the real-time data that influences these decisions via an online dashboard similar to the one published by the Department of Health and Social Care so that schools have as much time as possible to plan? Will he meet me and my constituent to discuss that in more detail?

[Gavin Williamson]

We are certainly always more than happy to look at different ways of being able to share as much information as possible with schools and communities about what best informs decisions. The Minister for School Standards, as I was about to leap to my feet, immediately wanted to meet my hon. Friend and her constituent, so I know that he will be organising that swiftly to be able to listen in greater detail to the thoughts and ideas not just about the current challenges that schools face, but about how we can continue to drive our reforms and improvements within the school system not just this year, but for decades into the future.